Hybrid superplastic formation of magnesium alloys

Author

Tan, Eugene Yong Xian

Date of Issue

2016

School

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

Superplastic formation has gained its popularity especially in the automotive and aerospace industry due to its ability to form complex components in a single operation with near final dimension finishing. However, its greatest drawback lies in its strict requirement involving expensive material of fine grain size and subjecting them only to low strain rates which eventually restricts superplastic formation to small volume productions. With the introduction of hybrid superplastic formation, the elimination of the later drawback is targeted to overall improve the attractiveness of superplastic formation to other industries.
Hybrid superplastic formation combines a pre-process of deep drawing before conventional superplastic forming. Since a partial final shape is attained through deep drawing, overall formation time is reduced and formed AZ31B has a better formability as well.
From this report, the feasibility of magnesium alloy grade AZ31B for superplastic forming will be investigated through the use of hybrid superplastic formation. Investigation is done by experimenting the limits of AZ31B in hybrid superplastic through variation of temperature, strain rates and the punch geometry. To further understand the formability of the formed AZ31B from these variation, subjection to thickness profiling and microstructural study at the end of the hybrid superplastic experiments were conducted.